Top Alexandria City Public Schools officials have met with residents to discuss their plans for a re-imagined Jefferson Houston Pre-K-8 school as work on the project is poised to get under way.

ACPS staff, including Superintendent Morton Sherman, discussed educational and physical specifications for the proposed new building during a meeting with community stakeholders earlier this month. Officials included the project in the district’s capital improvement plan after the mention of a possible public-private partnership raised the ire of neighbors in the summer and fall of 2010.

While the project is not yet at the design stage, officials hope to reach a deal with an architect by January. A new, roughly 120,000 square foot building is slated to be built on the school’s existing grounds and open by the start of the 2014-15 school year.

Plans are also in the works to rebuild two other city elementary schools, Cora Kelly and Patrick Henry.